THE SUCCESSION STATES OF THE DELHI SULTANATE /PART 5/ D. JAUNPUR

 D. JAUNPUR

The modern city of Jaunpur on the river Gumti, thirty-four miles north-west of Banaras, was founded by Firuz Shah and remained the headquarters of the provincial government till 1394. According to Shams-i-Siraj 'Afif, the contemporary historian, Firüz Shah halt- ed at Zafarābād in 1359 on his way to Bengal and impressed by the site of the present city where the road crossed the river, decided to build a town there to be called Jaunpur, after the name of his cousin Sultan Muhammad whose real name was Jauna.1

Cunningham was of the opinion that there was an older Hindu city called Jamanpur on the Gumti, and Firüz Shah utilized the materials from the buildings of this older town to lay the foundation of his new city. The Hindus of Jaunpur still call their city 'Jamanpur', and believe that the name is derived from the Sage Jamadagni.

The founder of the Sultanate of Jaunpur was Malik Sarvar who is said to have begun his career as a slave of Sultan Muhammad (son of Firuz Tughluq). But he rose steadily till he became the wazir in A.D. 1389 with the title of Khvāja Jahān. Sultan Mahmud, the last Tughluq king, conferred on him the title of Malik-ush-Sharq (chief of the east) and appointed him governor of the eastern pro- vinces of the empire.

The object in appointing the wazir as a governor was to sup- press the Hindu rebellions which had thrown the government of this part of the country into confusion. Malik Sarvar left Delhi for Jaunpur in A.D. 1394 and suppressed the rebels at Etawa, Koil and Kanauj. He then recovered from the rebels Awadh, Kanauj, Sandila, Dalmau, Bahraich, and Bihār, and repaired the forts which they had destroyed. Thus he consolidated his position, establishing his hold over a vast territory comprising Awadh, and the Gangetic valley from Koil in the west to Bihār in the east. The ruler of Bengal is said to have sent him tributes, which had been withheld from the weak government of Delhi.

Malik Sarvar was for all practical purposes an independent king, though he abstained from assuming the parapharnelia of sovereignty. During the invasion of Timür he did not send any help to Delhi. He died in A.D. 1399 in the plentitude of his power, leaving behind a kingdom which stretched from Koil in the west to Tirhut and Bihār in the east.

Malik Sarvar, a eunuch, probably of Negro blood, was succeed- ed by his adopted son who assumed the title of Sultan Mubarak Shäh. His original name Qaranfül (clove) seems to indicate that he was an African slave. Mubarak issued coins and had the khutba read in his name. This provoked an attack on Jaunpur by Mallu Iqbal Khan, the powerful minister of Sultan Mahmud Tughluq (A.D. 1400). The two armies encamped on the two banks of the Ganga, but after a period of inactivity, the scarcity of provisions forced them to come to an understanding and the two armies re- turned to their respective capitals. Shortly after, Mubarak Shāh died (A.D. 1402), and the amirs raised his brother Ibrahim to the throne, under the title of Shams-ud-din Ibrahim.

Soon after his accession Ibrahim Shah was faced with an inva- sion by Mallu Iqbal and Mahmud Tughluq. The two belligerents stood confronting each other on the opposite banks of the Gangā. Then, as has been related above,2 Sultan Mahmud, unable to bear the tutelage of Iqbal, escaped to Ibrahim Shah's camp, and being coldly received there, fled to Kanauj which he occupied. Iqbal left for Delhi without fighting with Ibrahim Shah, who returned to Jaunpur.

However, when after the death of Iqbal, Sultan Mahmud re- turned to Delhi (A.D. 1405), Ibrāhīm Shāh, after an initial failure re-annexed Kanauj after a siege of four months (A.D. 1407). He was then joined by several other nobles and made a bid for the con- quest of Delhi. Capturing Sambhal on his way, Ibrahim arrived near Delhi, when news reached him that Sultan Muzaffar Shah of Gujarat was sending an army to relieve Sultan Mahmud. Ibrahim thereupon returned to Jaunpur and spent the next fourteen years there patronizing art and literature. During this period, he once resolved to invade Bengal from where complaints of the persecution of the Muslims by the Hindu Rājā Gaṇeśa reached him. According to some accounts Gaṇeśa had his son converted to Islām and Ibrāhīm was pacified, while according to other accounts Ibrahim was defeated,3

In A.D. 1427, Ibrāhīm attacked Bayana in an attempt to restore it to Muhammad Khan Auladi. He was opposed by Mubarak Shah, the Sayyid king of Delhi, but after an indecisive battle, the two armies retired in good order (A.D. 1428). In A.D. 1431, Ibrāhīm attempted to conquer Kalpi but was opposed by Sultan Hushang Ghüri of Mälwa who also had the same objective.4 Before any action took place, news came that Mubarak Shāh, the Sayyid king of Delhi, was advancing towards Jaunpur. Thereupon Ibrahim returned, and Kälpi fell into the hands of Hushang Ghuri. Nine years later Ibrahim died (A.D. 1440).

During Ibrahim Shah's long reign of about forty years Jaunpur attained to the height of fame and prosperity. It also became a notable centre of learning, and books like the Hashiah-i-Hindi, the Bahr-ul-Mawwaj, the Fatwa-i-Ibrahim Shahi, and the Irshad were written by renowned scholars including Qăzi Shihab-ud-din, the great favourite of Sultan Ibrahim. His reign was also memorable for the architectural splendour of Jaunpur to which reference will be made later.

Ibrahim Shah was succeeded by his eldest son Mahmud Shah. It is related that Mahmud Shah set about invading Bengal whereupon the king of Bengal appealed to Shah Rukh the king of Irān, through the Rājā of Siālkot. Shah Rukh ordered Mahmud Shāh to desist. Mahmud Shāh obeyed the order of Shah Rukh, and instead of proceeding towards Bengal advanced towards Kālpi.

Sultan Hūshang of Malwa who, as noted above, had captured the district of Kalpi, appointed one Qadir Khân as its governor. After Hushang's death, Qadir became more or less independent of Malwa. He was succeeded by his son Nasir, and Sultan Mahmud complained about Nasir's outrageous conduct to Sultan Mahmūd Khalji of Malwa. The charge against Nasir was "that he had destroyed the town of Shāhpur which was larger and more populous than Kalpi, had banished Musalmāns from their homes and had made over Musalman women to Kāfirs". The basis for the last charge seems to be that the Muslim girls were handed over to the Hindus in order that they might be taught dancing. Nasir probably adopted harsh measures against the Muslims of Shahpur as a punishment for some misdeeds, such as rebellion. The charges, however, were so grave, that Sultan Mahmud Khalji, who was then occupied elsewhere, gave Sultan Mahmud permission to chastise Nasir, and the Sultān of Jaunpur thereupon invaded Kālpī. Later, however, Nasir obtained the protection of Mahmud Khalji, who proposed to the Sultan of Jaunpur that as Nasir had expressed his contrition he should be left in possession of Rath in the Kalpi district. As Mahmud of Jaunpur rejected this proposal, Mahmud Khalji marched against him (November, 1444) and fought an indecisive action near Irij. Eventually, through the mediation of a Muslim saint, peace was restored between Janupur and Malwa by the immediate cession of Rath or Rohut to Nasir and a promise to restore Kālpī after four months within which period Mahmud Khalji was to retire to Mändū, By the end of the year the two Mahmuds returned to their respec- tive capitals and Kalpi was restored to Nasir.

After this Mahmud suppressed a rebellion in Chunar and is said to have led a successful raid into Orissa.6 In 1452, he advanced against Delhi, in response to an invitation by some recalcitrant nobles, to remove Buhlül Lodi, the Afghan, from the throne. The course of this war in which the Jaunpur army suffered defeat has already been narrated.7 Hostilities with Delhi again broke out when Buhlül Lodi forced the Räjä of Etawa to submission. As Mahmüd claimed the allegiance of Etawa, he invaded the district to contest Buhlul's claim. After some desultory fighting, however, they came to terms, and a peace was concluded according to which the boundary between the two states was to remain as it had been during the reign of Mubarak Shah, and Buhlül was to be permitted to conquer Shamsābād from its governor who owed nominal allegiance to Jaunpur.

But after Buhlul conquered Shamsābād and conferred it upon one Rājā Karan, Mahmud marched against Buhlül. As the Jaunpur army approached Shamsabad, it was attacked by an advance guard of Buhlul under Qutb Khan Lodi. The attack failed and Qutb Khan was taken prisoner and sent to Jaunpur. But before any deci- sive action could take place, Mahmud died in A.D. 1457 and was succeeded by his son Bhikan, who assumed the title of Muhammad Shāh,

Muhammad Shah acknowledged Buhlül's right to retain Sham- säbäd and peace was restored. But as Buhlul was returning to Delhi he was reproached by his wife for leaving Qutb Khan, her brother, a prisoner of Jaunpur. Buhlül thereupon turned back, and Muhammad also marched on Shamsābād, expelled Buhlül's nominee Rājā Karan, and restored the fief to its former Sharqi governor. His success attracted to his standard some powerful adherents, and Muhammad reached the river Saraswati where some desultory fight- ing took place. But before any decisive action took place, dissen- sions broke out in the Jaunpur camp.

Muhammad Shah was apprehensive lest one of his four brothers--Hasan, Husain, Jalal and Ibrahim-should be raised to the throne by the nobles. The prisoner Qutb Khăn Lodi was also a source of danger, as his sister was prompting her husband Buhlül Lodi to attack Jaunpur and rescue her brother. Muhammad Shāh therefore sent an order to one of his officers at Jaunpur to execute his brother Hasan and Qutb Khan Lodi. This order could not be carried out as Muhammad's mother was keeping a strict watch on her son and Qutb Khan Lodi,

Muhammad, therefore, requested his mother to join him in his camp on a specious plea and as soon as the dowager Queen left Jaunpur, Prince Hasan was executed. On hearing this, Muhammad's two other brothers, Husain Khan and Jalāl Khan, who were in the camp, decided to revolt. Husain, seceding from the main army with 30,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants, joined his mother at Kanauj, and was there proclaimed king under the title of Husain Shäh.

There were further defections in Muhammad's army which forced him to retire, pursued by Buhlul up to Kanauj. From Kanauj Buhlül returned to Delhi, and Muhammad now found himself oppos- ed by his brother Husain's army. Most of his officers deserted him and he was killed in the action that followed.

A four years' truce was concluded in A.D. 1458 between Buhlül and Husain, and Qutb was freed from captivity in exchange of Husain's brother, Jalal Khan, who had been taken prisoner by Buhlül's soldiers in a skirmish shortly after Husain's departure.

Husain then collected a large army and proceeded towards Orissa by way of Tirhut. He overran Tirhut and it is stated by the Muslim historians that the Rai of Orissa, frightened at his approach, hastened to secure peace by presenting thirty elephants and one hundred horses, besides other valuable materials. Husain accepted the presents and returned to Jaunpur.

The king of Orissa during this raid was either Kapilendra (A.D. 1435-1467) or his son Purushottama (A.D. 1467-1497). Kapi- lendra was a very powerful king and it seems unlikely that Husain could induce him to submit. But the early part of Purushottama's reign was troubled, as has been related elsewhere, and it is not un- likely that he should have purchased peace by surrendering some of his elephants and horses.8

Husain then repaired the fort of Banaras and in the following year sent an army to besiege the fort of Gwalior. He failed to cap- ture the fort and had to return satisfied with tribute.

According to the Muslim chronicles, Jaunpur at this time pos- sessed probably the biggest army in India; in any case it was far superior, at least in number, to the army of Buhlul Lodi. The four years' truce with Delhi, concluded in A.D. 1458, had long ago ex- pired, and Husain was constantly urged by his wife Malika-i-Jahan, daughter of 'Alam Shah, the last Sayyid king of Delhi, to conquer it from Buhlül. Husain therefore began to make preparations for the invasion of Delhi.

When Buhlul realized that he might not be able to withstand a powerful Sharqi attack led by Husain, he turned for help to Mahmud Khalji of Mälwa and sent him two successive deputations in 1469. Mushtaqï, Nizām-ud-din, Firishta and some other writers refer only to one deputation, but the contemporary biographer of the Sultan of Malwa has given a detailed account of two separate missions sent by Buhlül. The first, consisting of Shaikhzāda Muhammad Farmali and Räizäda Kapur Chand, son of Rai Kirät Singh of Gwalior, waited on Mahmud on February 21, 1469, and solicited his help against Husain's aggression. Mahmud was willing to accede to their request but he expected a price for this help. the meantime, Buhlül appears to have received alarming reports of Husain's designs as he soon after sent another deputation which in- cluded Qutb Khan Lodi and Rai Kirāt Singh which met Mahmud on April 3, 1469. They were authorized to offer the cession of Bayana and a yearly levy of 6,000 men if Mahmud came personally with his armies to help Buhlul. The Khalji Sultan accepted the arrangement but he could not act up to it as he died only a month later on May 3, 1469.9

The Jaunpur army made triumphant progress and reached the suburbs of Delhi. Buhlul, despairing of success, offered terms agree- ing to cede the whole of his territory, retaining for himself only the city of Delhi and the tract of the country lying thirty-six miles around it, which he would govern as Husain's vassal. But Husain rejected the terms, and Buhlül left the city with a small army and encamped on the banks of the Yamuna opposite his enemy's army. Some time passed without any action; then one day, noticing that the Jaunpur army was off its guard, Buhlul suddenly attacked it. The Jaunpur army fled practically without offering any resistance, and though Husain managed to escape, his family was captured. Buhlül, however, treated them with marked respect, and later sent them to Jaunpur.

Husain thus lost the best chance he ever had of capturing Delhi. Next year he again attacked Delhi at the instigation of his wife, but was again defeated. Shortly after, Husain invaded Delhi for the third time, but was defeated by Buhlül at Sikhera, about twenty- five miles east of Delhi.

Shortly after this, on the death of Husain's father-in-law, 'Alam Shah, the last Sayyid king, who had retired to Badāūn, Husain seized the district dispossessing his brother-in-law. He also captured Sambhal from Buhlül's governor Tätär Khăn Lodi, and took him prisoner. He then again marched on Delhi in March 1479. This time Husain suffered a total defeat and Buhlul Lodi conquered practically the whole of his kingdom. Husain retired to Bihar where he seems to have been left in occupation of a small territory yielding a revenue of five lakhs of rupees. According to Nizăm-ud-din, Buhlül, "acting in a spirit of generosity, did not interfere with him". But after Buhlül's death, when Sikandar ascended the throne of Delhi, Husain induced Sikandar's brother Barbak, the governor of Jaunpur, to re- bel, as has been narrated above. After Sikandar had conquered Jaunpur from Barbak, he proceeded against Husain as the latter was the instigator of troubles. The course of this campaign has been narrated above. Husain was unable to make any stand against Sikandar, who annexed his territory. Husain then fled to Bengal where he was granted asylum by Sultan 'Ala-ud-din Husain Shäh There he passed his last days in obscurity.

Reference

1. See above, p. 92

2. See above, p. 122

3. See the next section of this Chapter.

4. See above p. 175.

5. According to Nizam-ud-din and others Ibrāhīm died in 840 A.F. (A.D. 1436). But his coins show that he was alive at least up to 844 A.H. (JASBI, XVIII. 135, 157),

6. This and the next invasion of Orissa, respectively by Mahmud and Husain of Jaunpur, though vouched for by Nizam-ud-din and Firishta, appear to be very doubtful. See the Chapter on Orissa,

7. See above, p. 140.

8. See t.n. 6 above.

9. “Ma'asir-i-Mahmud Shāh?" Cambridge MS. fols. 471-476; Bodleian MS. fols,

307-309, Tubingen MS. fol. 264.

The date of Husain Sharqï's first major attack on Delhi is disputed. Nizam- ud-din has mentioned the year 1473, but he also says that Buhlül simultaneous- ly sent appeals for help to Mahmud Khalji of Malwa, notwithstanding the fact that Mahmud I had died four years earlier (Tabaqat-i-Albarī, Vol. III, p. 284). Haig, in an attempt to correct Nizam-ud-din, writes that Buhlül sent his agents to Mahmud II of Malwa who, however, ascended the throne in 1511, about 22 years after Buhlül's death. (CHI, III, pp. 231).

'Abdul Haqq writes that it was during the progress of Husain's invasion of Delhi that Mahmud Khalji I of Malwa died (May 3, 1469). The invasion had, therefore, been launched probably some time between March and May 1469. (This discussion of the date of Husain Sharqi's attack on Delhi is by Dr. Hamid- ud-Din-Ed.).